Stephon Marbury aims fire at Stephen A. Smith: ‘I truly believe he’s upset that he couldn’t play ball in front of 19,000 people every night’

Former NBA player Stephon Marbury offered a blistering critique of ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, saying that the controversial commentator is frustrated about never becoming a basketball star.

Marbury’s comments were offered in the wake of Smith’s criticism of Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving, whose team was swept in this season’s NBA playoffs by the Boston Celtics.

Those comments by Smith came on Friday during his “First Take” program and were actually a mix of praise and criticism toward Irving. Smith began by praising the veteran guard’s talent before then referring to him as delusional.

The comments aren’t the first time that Smith has directed criticism toward the controversial Irving. Previously, Smith had gone after Irving for refusing to take the COVID-19 vaccine.

That decision by Irving resulted in the star guard missing a good portion of the 2021-22 NBA season, an absence that was undoubtedly costly to the Nets’ season.

The 45-year-old Marbury last played in the NBA during the 2008-09 campaign, but then went on to play basketball for a number of years in China.

Despite that lengthy absence from the NBA scene, Marbury has offered opinions on players from time to time.

Smith is known for offering bombastic remarks on any number of topics, though a good deal of his comments are basketball related. That style of commenting has been controversial at times, though it’s privately been lucrative for the 54-year-old Smith.

Given the controversy involved, it wouldn’t be surprising for Smith to use Marbury’s comments toward him as fodder for more commentary in the week ahead.